You Can't Treat Women Like Hotels
by forbrighterdays
Summary: Two people could never wreck or unsettle another person the way they wreck and unsettle each other. It wasn’t on purpose or forced, but sometimes love comes at a higher cost. NB.
1. Chapter 1

**Happy New Year, everyone! 2010 is going to be great, I can feel it. This isn't a particularly happy story, but then again, most everything having to do with Nate and Blair isn't happy. This is a chapter story, and I promise to be a good as I can be with these updates; that's my one new year's resolution.**

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**You Can't Treat Women Like Hotels**

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Two people could never wreck or unsettle another person the way they wreck and unsettle each other. It wasn't on purpose or forced, but sometimes love comes at a higher cost.

-

A whisper.

A breath.

A heartbeat.

A nurse peaks her head in though the door, dispelling the eerie quiet.

"Visiting hours are over, Mr. Archibald."

The man in question picks his head up.

"I'm her husband," he replies dejectedly, tracing his hand absentmindedly over the hand of the person on the hospital bed. A woman; his girl.

"You know the rules; family or no family, visiting hours end at six on Sundays."

He nods.

"Alright. Could I just have a few more minutes with her?"

The nurse sighs at the distraught sight of him, knowing that it's against hospital policy, but she's seen him here every chance he's had, so she gives her consent before leaving to check on the rest of her patients.

Nate turns back to the woman lying on the hospital bed, shaking his head sadly and reaching out for her hand once more.

"I really hate you for doing this to us," he whispers fiercely. "We could have been so happy. So _fucking _happy. It's all screwed up now, though. You don't even know what's been going on; who your own daughter is. And she doesn't even know you either."

She remains silent, still; the ideal picture of perfection. Her chestnut hair is fanned out around her head on the pillow, and with her cheeks faintly pink from blush, she looks like an angel who is just taking a little nap. She's not taking a nap, though, and she's certainly not listening to him. If she had been, they would be home. They would have _been _home for the past two weeks, but it can't happen like that.

It's been two weeks. Twenty days, actually; tomorrow will mark three weeks. Nate refuses to believe it though, he pretends not to count the days since he last saw her eyes (21; she was asleep when he got home from work that last night,) or the last time her saw her smile (he honestly doesn't know the answer to this because he really has been that long. A little over seven weeks; just before the baby was born).

He's actually been hopelessly counting since she was placed in this bleak hospital room. Over and over and over, but he doesn't acknowledge this fact out loud; people in the know can see that he's coming apart at the seams, but he just dares them to say something to him about it. Three weeks in less than six hours. Shit. What if that were to turn to four weeks, and then the time would be measured in months from there. Is it really an almost-absolute possibility that he'll have to spend every day coming to this hospital for _months, _just waiting for her to come around? God forbid that happen, but he's not a doctor, and he sure as hell doesn't know what's going on.

He remembers the last time he was here for a similar occasion, junior year, on Thanksgiving of all times, when his father had passed out from the mix of pain-killers and alcohol. He doesn't understand how this can keep happening to him, but that hadn't been half as bad of a time as this is, not by the long shot. He wishes that she could have handled her alcohol better, handled that and dropped her addiction to the pills. He knows it's his fault as well, they say it's not but if he could have found some way to save her from the habit her life had become, maybe they wouldn't be here.

Looking at her again, he can't help but feel himself fill with rage. He knows this isn't the time or place to do anything about it, and he can't. He'll have to leave her soon, and he's so tired; it was a long day. And then there is the matter of Holly, he really does need to get home to check on their daughter.

Running his fingertips over her cheek bone, he bends down to kiss her on the forehead.

"I love you, Blair," he says in a softer tone than he had used before, "and I really need you to come back to me. I can't do this by myself. I can't be a father, you know that, you promised you'd be there. I need your help."

He pauses; waiting, hoping, and praying for a reaction, but what he receives is nothing, and so he continues his monologue.

"She's beautiful, you know. Absolutely wonderful. And she's getting so big. I'm worried you'll miss her grow up. She needs you, and I do too, and we both know things run a lot smoother when we have each other. I'll help you; I'll get you someone to talk to. Anything, please, just wake up."

The nurse taps at the door, signaling to her watch impatiently. Her face doesn't look annoyed though, she looks sad for him, and he hates feeling the pity that others see in him. Blair has had the same nurse since she's been admitted into the hospital. Nurse Morgan Montgomery; a nice woman, just a little bit older than he and Blair are, but she seems to do her job to the best of her ability, and that's all Nate asks.

"I'll see you tomorrow, sweetheart. Maybe I'll bring Holly by."

He kisses her forehead again, and then her cheeks and eyelids and lastly, her lips. It pains him to leave her in this place, but he knows there is no other way.

After shrugging his coat on, he turns the light off and closes the door gently, meeting Morgan out in the hallway.

"So," he mutters, "how did the tests come back today?"

"Still nothing, you know we would give you news if there was any."

Nate runs his fingers though his hair and lets out a heavy breath.

"I know, it's just difficult. I don't know how to deal with this anymore."

Morgan nods, "your wife's case is a special one, but, of course, you already knew that. There is no protocol when it comes to coma patients though, and all traces of the alcohol are completely out of her body. We just have to play it by ear, and you would be the first to notice a change, seeing as you're in her room constantly."

"I just need her back, that's all. I'm hoping she'll sense my presence and know she has to wake up, that she'll know I'm in trouble. She's always been good at that."

An intercom bellows through the hospital hallways, alerting a doctor on some far-off wing that their help is needed.

"You should probably go now, Mr. Archibald, the hospital _is _closed."

She's not hostile with her words, and Nate knows it is, in fact, time to depart.

"I know," he sighs, stealing one last look at Blair's room before he begins his retreat of the hospital.

He exits the hospital and walks into the cold air of a New York winter. It's only six thirty, but he knows it's time to relieve Serena of her babysitting duties and tell her of the non-news of another day.

This is life now, and he knows it'll be this way until _she _is back. What else is there for him anyway?


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you to everyone who has expressed interest in this story! I've loved all the reviews, you're all fantastic.**

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**You Can't Treat Women Like Hotels  
****Chapter 2**

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In the months before alcoholism and pills had taken over Blair's life, her and Nate's time together had been perfect.

They had been married for two years, and although they didn't have to worry about trivial things like money, they held off on trying for children. They both knew they wanted them eventually, but they were enjoying all their time together; jet setting the world and doing whatever they pleased. But on Nate's birthday, just after their second anniversary, Blair treated him with the news he had been waiting for: She was ready.

It didn't take long for them to conceive, and they spent every bit of free time dedicated to planning for their child. When the time came that they could learn the sex of the baby, they asked, and the news came that they were expecting a girl; Blair had never been happier.

They were more in love than ever; the baby proving to connect and bring them closer together in ways they didn't know they could be. The morning sickness and various pains were difficult for each of them to get though, but nothing could bring either of the two down from their constant high.

Everything went as planned; even through the birth, their baby was complete perfection. They were so wrapped up in their little bundle of joy, simultaneously feeling proud of themselves for creating such a gorgeous little girl. Slowly, though, Blair stopped wanting to spend time with Holly and Nate, always citing a headache as her problem. It wasn't until two weeks after their daughter was born that Nate started to see a major change in his otherwise cheerful wife.

The symptoms were obvious (change in appetite, loss of pleasure in daily activities, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating,) but Nate knew nothing about the condition. He worked to cheer her up as much as he could, never knowing quite what to do or say, but his sessions always ended in tears, whether they were from Blair, Holly, or himself. And after being rendered helpless for almost a full month, he went out to seek professional help.

Blair had been diagnosed with postpartum depression, and nothing Nate did could seem to free her from it. The doctors gave her medication, and almost immediately she started going through the routine therapy and treatment classes. Nate wished that he could say he saw some progress in her behavior, but that would have been a lie.

He continued to do research on the matter, needing to feel like they were close to a breakthrough, that if he worked hard enough on finding ways to help her, the depression would subside and they could go back to living their happy lives together. He wouldn't loose her after only having a few weeks together with their daughter.

As he read countless medical books and treatment diaries, he read causes listed that wouldn't have threatened Blair, things like substance abuse (that happened after), attempted suicide (it hadn't been intentional that she ended up in this place), low income, and going through a traumatic event during pregnancy. Having an unsupportive spouse or boyfriend was always among the top of the reasons on each list, and although he knew he had been nothing but supportive and caring, he began doubting himself more and more.

A swift wave of depression threatened to overtake him as well, but he knew he had to tend to his daughter, and it wasn't Blair's fault that such an unfortunate thing had happened to her. And if the situation had been reversed, he knew she would be doing the exact same for him.

He figured that if he could point the blame at something he could say that the reason Blair was suffering from the depression was because she didn't get the support she needed as a child. It was a pretty poor excuse by any standards, but out of all the possible causes, it was the only one that made the least bit of sense to Nate, even if he wasn't too sure of it himself.

There weren't enough books to read, in Nate's opinion, on the subject, and he wasn't a doctor. He relied entirely on the thoughts and opinions of those doctors at the hospital and treatment center, but nothing had improved with her in the almost-two months of therapy.

It felt like he was grasping at air, but couldn't get a sturdy enough hold.

-

Serena is still at their house when Nate arrives, and sitting on the floor with her is his daughter, biting a teething ring and holding a stuffed animal.

He steps into the eye line of his daughter and her face breaks out into a huge, toothless grin.

"Aaaaaah!" she shrieks in recognition.

"Hey baby girl," Nate replies as he walks over to Holly and takes her up in his arms, blowing kissy farts all over her face. Once she is squealing in delight, he turns to the only other person in the room.

"Thank you, Serena."

"No problem," the blonde smiles, "she was perfect, as usual."

Nate kisses his little girl on the forehead and sets her back down in her play pin. He knows he has to talk to Serena, and although he knows Holly won't know that he's talking about, he'll never feel comfortable talking about her mother's condition while she's in the room.

Serena takes her cue from Nate's predictable home-from-the-hospital routine, cooing, "Goodbye sweetheart," and bending over to give the infant one last hug. Holly reciprocates by pulling Serena's hair and giving her a sloppy almost-kiss on the cheek.

The older woman laughs as she says, "see you tomorrow, okay?"

The walk to the foyer is silent as Nate leads the way and Serena works to put all of her layers on.

"Nothing has changed," he says in a voice that could almost be classified as a whisper.

Serena hangs her head; the absence of her best friend is taking a toll on her as well, but she won't let Nate see her hurting because she knows that he's dealing with worse, by the tenfold.

"Do you know when…." she trails off.

"When something will change? No," he runs his fingers through his hair, pulling at the scalp, "I don't know anything."

She makes the motions to reach out and touch his arm, but restrains herself; she hates it when friends tell her that "it'll all be okay" when they don't know anymore than the next person.

"I was thinking it might be a good idea to bring Holly by there sometime. I know it's not my place, and I'll keep watch over her if you don't want her to go, but she's almost four months old now and I think she should at least see what her mother looks like."

She holds her breath, waiting for a harsh response. To her surprise, though, Nate nods in assent.

"Yeah, I was just thinking that earlier." He pauses, but then was unable to hold back the next words that sprang from his mouth. "I promised Blair I'd bring her by."

There is an awkward silence, as neither can remember the last time Blair's name was spoken aloud between the two of them, and Serena certainly doesn't know how to react to Nate's talk of promises to Blair.

They are both masters of awkward moments, though, and Serena begins speaking again as if Nate's little slip up never happened.

"Okay, that'll be good for her then, do you know when you'll bring her by?"

"Tomorrow." Nate said definitely. He had already made up his mind at the hospital, "I'll bring her by tomorrow. I'll just take the day off work and spend it with Holly."

Serena wants to tell him that spending the whole day in the hospital with his infant daughter might not be the best plan, but she holds back, again, knowing not to overstep her limits.

"So you won't need me at all?" She asks.

"No, I think I can handle her by myself, after all, I am a dad now."

It's a poor joke by any standards, but Nate lets out a shaky laugh. He needs something; his entire existence has been filled with heartache and stress for the past month.

Serena laughs along as well, in as unsure of a manner as one can have. But she says her goodbyes and Nate is left alone, once again.

The penthouse is eerily quiet, as Holly is a surprisingly well-behaved baby. Nate shouldn't be too shocked though, Blair _is _her mother, and if anyone could claim the title for queen of restraint, it would be her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Alright, this is just a warning beforehand. There are a few things I've guessed and assumed at with Blair's condition, so don't hold me responsible if it isn't accurate or probable. I've done as much research on postpartum depression as this story needs, but the other little things that caused her to get here (which the specifics of are coming in chapter four) I'm not too sure about. If you happen to know a great deal about medicine and such, just read the story and enjoy, please. It is fiction, after all. ;) **

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**You Can't Treat Women Like Hotels**

**Chapter 3**

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He remembers the incident as if it were yesterday. The _incident _as it is solely referred to in his head, from his lacking to find a better word to label the most frightening day of his life.

It was a Thursday; November nineth. He had arrived home from work to the unusual sound of Holly's singular voice. She was wailing, which was expected, but the sound of Blair's voice coming from the nursery, working to sooth her daughter, was also to be expected. Blair had been working to get herself better over the past few months, but the depression was really seeming to take its toll on her in the third month of Holly's life. He was puzzled, though, as to what Blair could possibly be doing that she couldn't tend to their daughter.

Nate turned the corner to enter Holly's room – Holly Kathleen, named entirely for Audrey Hepburn. Holly being her character's name in Breakfast at Tiffany's, Blair's favorite movie, and Kathleen being the woman's middle name in real life. Blair had been so excited that the names fit so well together and that they represented the most amazing starlet; while Nate had just been happy that they were going to have a healthy little girl. – only to find her holding onto her crib railing, crying and carrying on for reasons Nate didn't know.

She was wearing her pajamas, so he assumed that Blair had tried to give her a nap. Upon picking his daughter up, Nate found the cause of her discomfort and promptly changed her diaper. He carried the little girl with him as he went to go check on his wife. She was probably sleeping, he figured that, but Holly had been screaming loudly, and even when Blair didn't want to get up to calm her down; she always did.

What he found in their room was something he had prayed he'd never see again; the sight of a body, lying helpless on the floor. He rushed to her side, hoping that she had just been too tired to make it to the bed, or that she was actually just trying to find something under their vanity. It was neither though, and when he reached where she was on the floor to flip her on her back, he saw that she was unconscious.

Time stood still for a millisecond.

He wanted to scream for help, for someone older and wiser to tell him what he needed to do. He was only twenty-four. Not old enough for this. Not old enough to have seen two people he cared about unconscious from their own undoing. There wasn't anyone else, though. Only Holly, who had begun crying again. He was the only person who had been around to deal with the mess that Blair had become, and so he was the one person whose job it was to get her taken some place safe.

The ambulance came fairly quickly, but not fast enough, in Nate's opinion, as each ticking second felt like years to him. He sat beside Blair the whole wait after the initial 9-1-1 call had been made, resting her against the left side of his body as he held Holly in his right arm. The men rushed up and strapped Blair onto a stretcher, leading Nate and a cranky Holly out into the ambulance.

Blair was quickly admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in Lenox Hill, getting blood tested and being constantly monitored. Nate was questioned well into the night, and he and Holly ended up sleeping in the room with Blair.

Nothing had changed by the next morning, and even though he hated to leave her, Nate had to bring Holly back to their house to get her cleaned up and changed. He called Serena to tell her of the news, asking if she could watch Holly while he stayed at the hospital with Blair for the day.

They'd spent everyday up until the present trading off between watching Holly and visiting Blair, both knowing that the hospital wasn't an appropriate place for Holly to be, especially because of the fact that she would be there to visit her mother, something that wasn't right at all.

-

Nate sits in Blair's room, watching Holly make a toy of her mother's hair as his two girls lay side-by-side on the hospital bed. Holly is curled up close to Blair, and because the bed isn't so accommodating for more than one person, Nate sits close to Holly's side incase she gets off balance.

They've been here since the little girl woke up; approximately two hours ago, Nate sees as he looks at his watch. At first he thought it was strange that Holly had automatically reached out for the seemingly sleeping woman, that she had been so calm and at ease in Blair's presence. But then he thinks about just how bright his daughter is and realizes that it's not odd in the least that she knows who her mother is.

Blair would be happy, he knows, if she could see her daughter now. If she could hold her and take in her rosy cheeks and wild, unmanageable, chestnut-colored hair. They would be the perfect family in a situation like that, but as it was, they were not.

Dr. Montgomery peaks her head in through the door as Nate begins searching for Holly's food in her baby bag. She smiles politely as Nate gestures her in, and although he hates forcing Holly to be present during their conversation, he knows he doesn't have the option to leave her and carry on with the medical conversation out in the hallway.

"So that's her?" Morgan says as a greeting, and Nate remembers that she hadn't been assigned as Blair's doctor when she had first been admitted, so she would have ever seen Holly.

A soft "yeah" is Nate's reverent reply, "Holly Kathleen."

Morgan nods and smiles as the little girl looks up at the sound of her name.

"She's beautiful," she says, "and I hope you don't mind me saying, but she looks so much like Blair."

Nate smiles in spite of himself, looking again at the similarities of the face that Blair and Holly share.

"No, I don't mind at all," he sighs.

He goes into a sort of trancelike state; gazing at the two of them together on the bed again, but he remembers the clipboard in the doctor's hand and clears his throat to bring attention back to it.

"So how is everything looking?" he questions.

Morgan peers down at her paperwork even though she knows everything that has been written up about her patient by heart. The first rule of medical school is not to get attached to patients because, eventually, they all move on in some way, shape, or form. She has broken this rule only once, and it's because of the couple – the family – in this room.

In becoming attached, she makes sure to check Blair's records first when she comes in for work each and every morning, and is programmed to catch Nate on as many occasions as she can before he leaves to offer as much information or support as she can.

"Everything seems to be the same. All of her tests came back as positive as they can in her condition, which is a very good sign. It's all very consistent, which is positive as well, meaning that even though she's unresponsive, her state isn't crumbling. When she becomes conscious again it'll be like she just woke up from a nap, albeit the foggy memory and unfamiliar surroundings. _If _she wakes up, that'll be the case." She curses herself.

Rule two is to never lead the family of those in the hospital to believe that their loved one will, under any certain terms, make a full recovery. It makes it too easy for lawsuits to pop up, and the family becomes even more desperate for tangible progress. Words and phrases like _if _and _on the occasion that_ and _supposing that_ are to be used when talking about the future, if and only if future talk is necessary. While words like _when _give off misguiding hope to the family, leading them to believe recovery is guaranteed.

Morgan has an absolute feeling about Blair's case, but she can't voice her opinion to anyone, least of all Nate, who clamors for news and prays for advancements. She thinks Blair will come out of this whole situation fine, but there is always that chance that she won't.

"Is- is there any protocol for this sort of thing?" Nate asks unsurely.

Morgan fights back a grimace because she knows that will not help.

"No, I'm sorry. There are always very different cases with unrelated drugs and substances, but the outcomes always range from days to months. The medication your wife was on is much stronger than most of what we see attributing to these cases, and although there's a chance that she's in this coma because of alcohol poisoning, the majority of the doctors that have reviewed this case would say that her anti-depression pills mixed fatally with the high intakes of Absinthe, Spirytus, and Everclear that were already in her body."

She's heard the other doctors in the hospital. _"It's almost as if she _wanted _to kill herself" _is the common response when reviewing Blair's file. Morgan tries to tune them out, refusing to believe that Blair would purposely do such a thing to her husband and newborn. She's come to think of herself as more than a doctor to Blair, feeling the need to constantly look out for her, like a big sister of sorts.

For the most part, Nate has heard it all before. He knows everything about the situation that Blair has gotten herself into, and how crazy the whole thing is. What he still doesn't understand is _why _though. Why has Blair been unresponsive for the better part of the month, while his father was only unconscious for a few hours? That's a discussion for another time though, as the time for Holly's midday nap is growing nearer.

"Thank you," he says, feeding Holly the rest of the Gerber's baby food Blair was always sure to stock up on. He picks up the bag, kisses Blair on the forehead, and makes sure he isn't leaving anything behind. "I know you're trying your hardest to get everything sorted."

Dr. Montgomery nods because she can't deny it; she is.


End file.
